Thursday, January 10, 2013

Have we lost the essence as educators when we simply just do too much ?

Have we lost the essence as educators when we simply just do too much ?

I would like to share a quote from Michael Fullan in a book he wrote in 2001. The quote is "In schools, the main problem is not the absence of innovations but the presence of too many disconnected , piecemeal, superficially adorned projects. We are over our heads". I totally agree with this quote. Many times we do too many things in schools and our students and teachers are still not happy, we organise camps, establish sister school relationships, invest in state of the art technology facilities, build huge auditoriums, give students lap tops to take home, have major college fete days, school musicals and theatrical productions etc. While all of these ideas and projects are good and beneficial it doesn't necessarily mean that all of us feel happy, satisfied, and empowered at the end . A feeling of emptiness remains, many teachers feel stressed out after all this hard work and not all students appreciate these good projects. Students sometimes complain from the heart that school is not always fun well as a teacher I don't blame them !

5 days ago

David Ball • Education is not about money .. but there are howls when people try to cut it. One NSW HS which has to make cuts is doing so by pruning its 'innovations' one of which is to have a paid member of staff do the photocopying of teachers and another is to 'team teach' an advanced year 10 English class. Why would an advanced year 10 class require two teachers sharing outrageously partisan opinions? Teachers are worked hard and if they aren't they aren't doing enough. My experience was the most stressed teachers were the most adept at sidestepping work. Or their colleagues working over time to make up for the slack of the lazy. We have enough staff in school to allow a classroom to be open for lunch and recess for games and activity like chess, cards and board games. Yet most schools don't. I know this for in my career I started one at each school I was at and never once traded off my responsibilities. There are projects that are worthwhile to do. If it is worthwhile, schools will do it or be dysfunctional. I know of dysfunctional schools and I know ones which work well. In none of those schools is money the reason for success or lack. Neither is it staff members doing too much. There has to be a work life balance. But a teacher needs to be generous with their work life or they are cheating.

Leo Keegan • Kon's question about whether we have lost the "essence" is in my experience, right on target.

Sir Humphrey asserted that politicians are very active 'because activity is a substitute for achievement'. I believe that Fullan is saying that teachers can fall into the same trap.

Achievement could replace piecemeal superficial activity but only if we had a clear purpose. Over a four year period when I was working with teachers in many schools I surveyed and spoke with about 1000 secondary students. Most schools had clear mission statements but time and time again students told me that what schools did was not linked in any way to the mission statement.

Reading annual school reports tells us what the actual purpose of a school is and the link between this purpose and the school mission is rarely made.

The PURPOSE of ALL learning must be to fulfill the actual mission of the school. If this link was in clear in the mind of every member of the school community then much more effective decisions could then be made about which 'activities' had relevance, validity and worth.

Anyone wishing to obtain my unpublished paper about the purpose of school problem can contact me on leokeegan@bigpond.com.

Tom Benjamin • Isn't a lot of this just developmental? Kids aren't adults. They can push buttons and flip their ipads but they aren't fully connected in the frontal lobes. It's hard enough for adults to keep up with it all, let alone expecting kids to make coherent sense out of all this. Everything you've said about kids could be said about my careers in health, academia and public service. My multimedia activities are even more disjointed. It would take a thesis to elaborate. My punchline is that there is no 'solution' to this and Humphrey Appleby knew this well, having been through countless ministers with their grand plans.

David Ball • Taking a different tack .. how much is too much. School teachers generally do a hard job well. They can do better. They could do worse. So many competing demands on teachers that training has to involve workplace and be local to finish. Maybe we could limit demands on teachers out of the parental responsibility area into the academic area. Since when should government raise children? But, in the case of some teachers, I shudder to suggest they could do less. I guess I take issue with the word 'should' as its adoption suggests an aspiration that will be avoided. I've read accounts of teachers who have had an impact on their students, some accounts thousands of years old. Universally what stood out in the minds of the students was that the teacher went above and beyond. It isn't about what a teacher should do, neither is it what a teacher can do (suggesting there is nothing left) instead, it is dependent on what a teacher does.

Kevin Heys • This idea of 'the role of the teacher' has been a topic of discussion and debate over the past 20 years and more.

We had a go at defining the role of the teacher about 15 years ago where we came up with the words of " The role of the TAFE teachers as a professional educator is to help, construct, guide and enhance the educative process. The teacher delivers educational programs and facilites learning, enabling students to achieve their desired outcomes. the role of the teacher involves a broad range of acitivites which directly an dindirectly support learning through the delivery of educational programs. These acitivies may include: educational practice; assessment and evaluation; maintaining professional expertise; developing the learning environment; liaising with industry, educational providers and community; complying with legislation; quality assurance and improvement processes.

The NSWTF has recently come out and highlighted the importance of relationships in teaching .. the critical factor of building rapport and inspiring students to develop their relevant skills, knowledge and attributes in a sustainable context.

Matthew Esterman • Is it also a question of who/what is driving the 'work' and the role of the individual teacher in the context? If an individual teacher has certain demands put on them - even if outlined during a job interview and they are fully aware of the commitment - this will have different impacts on different people. Some teachers can handle their context with ease, others can't. Some teachers flourish in particular contexts due to their own personal and professional skills and strengths - some learned, some innate. Some teachers' goal for a day or year is to decrease truancy to a rate that allows a student to gain some consistency in their lives, for others it is pushing students to the upper limits of academic achievement. These goals can shift and change depending on the context, time and wider world that teacher lives and works in. I'm sure there's a point at which a teacher might do 'too much'.. but does that mean the next teacher, doing the same thing in a different context, is also doing 'too much'? Not sure a silver-bullet theory works in this case.

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About Me

I'm author of History in a Year by the Conservative Voice aka History of the World in a Year by the Conservative Voice.

I'm the Conservative Voice.

I'm looking to make contact with those who might use my skill.

I have an m-audio mobile pre amp fed by the audiotechnica 2041sp condensor mic pack. Prior to 15/4/06, I'd used a Shure sm-58 that required a nuclear blast to register a sound or the internal mic of my aged imac, which has a penchance to recording my breathing. I also used a Griffin itrip, until the community convinced me it was not hiding my talent as well as the other mics.

I am a Writer and an occasional Math Teacher (Sir, what's the occasion?). I like to sing, having no instrumental talent (cannot even clap in time, and yes, I'm aware singing badly IS obnoxious).

I have performed the finale to Les Miserables before an audience of 500. I have also sung before a similar audience (students, parents) renditions of 'I Will' (Beatles), 'Mr Cairo' (Jon Vangelis) and 'I am Australian' (Seekers). Now I seek another profession because the audience hates me ..